Bookstand



Sept. 1, 1931.

W. E. HASKIN BOOKSTAND Filed April 6. 1928 :Il 21 "i 4- s Il fir)- I 2 i I l y. xg n ;i 1 I 6 .i j;

A .l I l,

WTNESSS E fm1 www f lfm; )5,

3 SheetslSheet 2 Mrz/9%,

ATTORNEY Sept, 1,193L w. E. HAsKaN Y 198219802 BooKsTAND l Filed April 6. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR WaLZerE'JaskI/n BY 2 Z' ArroRNEY Patented Sept. 1, .1931

vuNtran, stares PATENT 'VVAL'IER kE. HASKIN; vOF FLUSHING, NEW

YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 .PRESSED & WELDED STEEL ERODUCTS CO., OF ONG .ISL-1 D CITY,.NV7 A. CGR-PCRATION OF K YORK applicati@ ined vApril 6,

This invention relates Yto bookstands and more specifically to a stand for supporting and permitting the manipulation of a reference book or books. y

My'invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with relatively heavy books and includes counterbalancing mechanism which aids in swin'gin@P the book' from its closed position to its open position and prevents the too rapid return of the book to closed position.

An object therefore of the invention is to provide a bookstand ofsuch character 1n which the book is counterbalanced so that a relatively7 heavy book can, through but a slight effort, be moved from its closedto open position, and returned to its closed' position without shock or jar. f

Vith these and other objects in View, the invention consists in certain novel features 0f construction and combinations andarrangements of parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

BOOKSTAN D 1928. Serial N0. 267,907.

, In the accompanying drawings, I employ reference character A to indicate the bookystand as a whole, and I employ the reference character B to indicate the book, and the reference character@ to indicate a backing or binder to which the book is directly conne'cted and supported thereby.

The bookstand A may of course be designed in many different ways but I have illustrated a simple form of bookstand in .which a pair of spaced parallel hollow boxlike uprights l, l is secured on the base 2, vand is preferably connected at the back of the stand a plate 3. These uprights l, 1 may be of sheet metal with the partsformed and assembledin any approved manner and spaced y book B and book holder C between them.

The book holder C may also constitute a. hollow member having any suitable arrangement of bars 4 'located between the leaves of the book so as to secure the book to the backrrice apart suliicientlyto accommodate the I do not wish to vbelimitedto the specific conkbook in open position;

struction ofrbook support per se as thisis capable of modiication. For books bound with hard covers the holder C, as shown in the drawings, is sufhoient but for booksor papers bound without hard covers the holder C should be otherwise made.

5 represents a shaft which extends through alined openings or bearings in the inner walls of both standards l, l and through the backing Cy so as to provide pivotal support and mounting for the backing and the book, and it will be noted particularly by reference to f In the accompanying drawitngs-H .Figure l is a perspective Vview of my improved booksta-nd, showing the, book in its closed position;

Figure '2 is a similar view, showing the Y, p, so

Figure 3 is a view in vertical longitudinal section through one of the hollow standards of the bookstand, the view being taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure l is a view in transverse section of the bookstand, the view being taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3 ;f Figure 5 that this pivotal connection is near- Figure 5 is a view in section on the line 5 5 er one end of the backing than the other so of Figure 4; n that .it is slightly off center in relation to the Figure 6 is an enlarged Vview in longitudibook, iso that the book will maintain itself nal section through myimproved dash pot; y in closed position by gravity and `will nor- A Figure 7 is a fragmentary View in transmallybear against a cushioning block 6 Xed verse section illustrating amoditication show to, the4 backplate 3. It is to be understood ing how a plurality'of books may be supportthat the backing C is secured or has a fixed4 ed by my improved stand; y relation tothe shaft 5 and that the shaft VFigure Sis Va view in section, similar to turns in bearings in the standards l( Figure 3, showing the bookturned on its Crank arms 7 are fixed to the shaft 5 pivot; Y in both ofthe hollow standards l, and the Figure 9 is a View, similar to Figures 3 and free ends of these crank arms 7 have crank 50 8, showing the book turned 180 on its pivot.

pins 8 thereon to which chains or other iiex- 100 the parts for proper functioning.

' ible connecting devices 9 are secured. These chains 9 are passed around idle pulleys 10 mounted in brackets 11 in the standards 1, and said chains are connected to the ends of expansion springs 12, the other ends of said expansion springs being connected parts 13 of the standards, preferably through the medium of links 1a, having turnbuckles 15 therein for adjustment of the tension of the springs. For a single volume one crank arm 7 may suflice. It is not necessary to use two unless the book is so heavy as to make it desirable to use two springs. A spring and dash pot are required for each volume to act independently where more than one volume is installed in the stand.

In one of the standards 1, l locate a dash pot 16 pivotally mounted at its lower end, as shown at 17, and the plunger or piston 18 of the dash pot 16 is connected by a. bail 19, the walls of the dash pot casing being slotted, as shown at 20, to permit of this connection Aof the piston and bail.

The bail 19 is connected by a screw 21 with a link 22, the latter connected to the crank 8 of one 0f the crank arms 7, the screw 21` permitting of the desired adjustment of The dashpot piston or plunger 18 has an air passage 23 therein with a check valve 24 in said passage so as to permit the flow of air in one direction through the passage and prevent the flow of air in the opposite direction.

1n the modification illustrated in Figure 7 I show how a plurality of books B may be mounted in a bookstand A, and in this modification it will be noted that a sectional shaft 25 is employed, each section of the shaft supporting a book backing C and each shaft having the same arrangement of counterhalancing means as above explained in connection with the single book support, and like reference characters are employed to indicate like parts in the drawings.

The hookstand A is preferably provided at the back thereof with a cushioningl ledge or support 26 on which the backing G rests when the book is open, so as to aline the book with the upper surfaces of the standards 1 and allow the book to be opened and lie flat,

as indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings.

The operation is as follows:

` Figures 1, 3, 4 an d 5 illustrate the position of the parts when the book is in its closed position. lVhen Vin this position it will be noted particularly b v reference to Figures 3 and 4 that the crank arms 7 entend toward the rear and are in substantially horizontal position and the chains 9 are located with relation to their connections to the arms) so that any strain of the springs is above the center of the shaft 5 so as to maintain the book in closed position.

To open the book, the outer or front end of thebook illustrated in Figure 1 is elevated or to fixed the opposite end of the book is pushed downwardly. This causes the arm 7 to swing downwardly and to the left of Figure 3 aided by the spring 12 as the latter contracts. Hence after the initial movement of the book the spring 12 will exert power to turn the shaft 5 by reason of the leverage on the crank arm 7, so that the weight of the book is largely sustained by the spring and said spring renders the turning of the book on its pivot an easy one, .and the book can be easily swung from closed position to open position, the latter position being shown in Figure 2.4

During this opening movement of the book, the piston 18 ot the dashpot 16 is moved Vdownwardly and this action is relatively free as the check valve 211 will permit the air to pass through passage 23 in piston 18. lVhen the book has been turned 900 to the position as shown in Figure 8, the piston 18 will be in its lowest position in the dashpot 16. lVhen the book has been turned 180o on its pivot to the position as shown in Figures 2 and 9, the piston 18 will be in its highest position in the dashpot 16, the book holder C will be supported by its pivot and the cushioning ledge 26. rlhe book when open will be supported by the holder C and the upper surfaces of the standards 1, and, while in this position, the leaves of the book can be conveniently turned.

Figure 3 shows the book in the closed position. The dashpot is full-closed, all compressed air expelled and the spring expanded to the maximum. The chain is over dead center, and exerts a tendency to keep the book closed. The book however would normally remain closed by gravity by reason of the pivot point being off center. The leverage in this position is practically nil. The book being substantially in balance en its pivot pin very little effort is required to start the operation of opening.

As the operation progresses the leverage comes into play gradually. The spring tension being atjits maximum in the closed position diminishes in substantially direct proportion to the increase in leverage, and the leverage increases in proportion tothe increase in the resistance or weight of the book as its turns on its pivot. When the book has been turned through an arc of 90, as shown in Figure 8, its weight is at its maximum (that is, without any selfbalancing influ ence over or under its pivot). Now the leverage of crank arm 7 is approaching its maximum whereas the spring tension is half diminished. The dashpot is full-open and up to this point has offered no resistance to the movement of the book by reason of the valve 24.

As the operation proceeds, the leverage still further increases as the spring tension diminishes. The dashpot compresses the contained air by reason of the closing of the valve 211.

Y of gravity l book,

Approaching the full-open position of the the leverage passes its maximum and diminishes thereafter. Here again the force comes into play by reason of the pivot point beingl olf center and the heavy end of the book carries it through to the completion of the operation against the resistance of the dashpot only until the back strikes cushioning ledge 26 and the by force of gravity and lock the book in an open position for reading.

Figure 9 shows the book turned through an arc of 180 with the dashpot again at fullclcsed position with its compressed air expelled. The spring tension has entirely faded out vand the leverage is nil, as no force is necessaryto keep the book open, and consequently no spring resistance is offered to the first movement of closing the book.

It is to be pointed out that the dashpot acts only to retard the too rapid opening or closing of the book to prevent jar or damage to the book on its support. It provides an air cushion only at the finish of the operation of opening or closing the book. It is so designed as to confine and compress the contained air, thereby creating a momentary air cushion or check only if the movement of the book is abnormally rapid. If the book is handled at normal speed the dashpot offers only mild resistance to themovement.

rIhe turnbuckle is tension on the spring according to the weight ofthe book. It is desirable to have the spring tension adjusted so that the boolas shown in Figure 8 will automatically close by force yof gravity instead of remaining in that position by reason of too much spring tension. 1

It is also to be pointed out that whereas the present case shows the book in a horizontal position, I do not wish toV be limited to this position.

To return the book to closed position it is 1 necessary to first close the book its-elf and then move the book on its pivot and this movement is resisted by the springs l2, and if the book should be dropped or allowed to fall of its own weight the dashpot 16 will function to check this closing or swinging movement of the book.

As above stated, the pivot of the book is slightly off center so that the book will of of its own Weight remain either in open or closed position and require some slight man-y ual effort to move it, although this effort is very slight as the weight of the book is counterbalanced by the action of the springs.

It is of course to be understood that my invention is broad enough to comtemplate the counterbalancing elements equivalent to springs and other features, and while Ihave illustrated and described what I believe to be a preferred embodiment of vmy yinvention it is obvious that various changes and alterleaves fall open f book holder pivotally provided to adjust the standards,

`at one end ations might lee-'madey inthe general form of theparts described without departing from my 'invention and hence I doy-not limit myself to the precise details set forth but con. ysiderv myself I claim l. In combination wiith a bookstand, aA

lmounted between its ends and normally suspended in the stand and adapted to be moved from a closed position in the stand to an open position on the stand, and counterbalancing means operatively connected with the pivot of the bookholder, said pivot of the bookholder being nearer one end of the bookholder than the other whereby a book when contained in said holder will remain at rest bygravity in either its open or closed position.

2. A bookstand, including a base, hollow standards on the base spaced apart, a book holderlocated between the standards and adapted to contain a book, or the like,` a

shaft extending through ythe holder anda,

3, A bookstand, including a base, hollowstandards on the base spaced apart, a book holder located between the standards and adapted to contain a book, extending through the holder and into the a crank arm on the shaft, an idle standard, a coiled spring 'secured in the standard, a flexible device connecting the otherend of the spring with thefree end ofthe crank arm and extending pulley in a` tively connected to said crank arm.

4. A bcokstand, including abase, hollow standards in tliebase spaced apart, a book holder located Ybetweenf the standards and adapted to contain a book or the like, a shaft extending through the holder andrinto the or the like, a shaft Yover said idle pulley, and yavdashpot opera standard, a crank arm onthe shaft, 'an idle f pulley in a standard, a coiled spring secured at one end in the standard, a iiexible device connecting the other end of the spring with the free end of thecrank arm and extending over said idle pulley, a dashpot operatively connected to said crank arm, said dashpot having a piston therein, and a check valve controlled passage through the piston.

5. In a bookstand, the pair of spaced supports of a book Vholder pivotally connected between its ends to the supports with the exposed back of thebook holder normally lying substantially `liush with the upper ends of the supports, and counterbalancing means connecting the book holder and the lbookstand assisting the pivotal movement combination with aY "zo l of the book holderto move the book to open position.` i

6. In a bookstand, the combination with a pair of spaced supports of abook holder piv- 5 otally connected between its ends to the supports, counterbalancingr means connecting the book holder and the bookstand assisting the pivotal movement of the book holder to move the book to open position, and a dashpot connecting the book holder and the bookstand, operating to check the Yfall of the book holder.

7. In a bookstand, the combination with a pair of supports of a book holder pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the supports and normally lying substantially flush with the upper ends of the supports, a transverse member on the bookstand, said pivotal connection being nearer one end of the book `holder than the other whereby when the book holder is swung :trom its closed position to its open position one end of the book holder will rest on said transverse member and counterbalancing means connecting] the book holder and book stand assisting,- the pivotal movement of the book holder.

8. In a bookstand, the combination with a pair of spaced upright supports, of a book holder located between the supports and pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the supports, and a dashpot operatively connected `to the book holder and checking the falling movement of the book holder as it is swung from one position to another.

9. An apparatus of the character described adapted to pivotally support, counterbalance the Weight and cheek the fall of a book holder and a book, said apparatus including a support in which the book holder is pivotally mounted between its ends, resilient means i .connecting the book holder and the support, 4'assisting the operator to pivot the holder, and a dashpot connecting the book holder and the support and checking the fall of the book holder after it swings through a predetermined arc.

Signed at Long Island City in the county of Queens and State of New York this 4th day of April A. D. 1928.

` WALTER E. HASKIN.

l e l 

